The booming wide receiver market has a new kingpin for the third time this offseason, but the position’s new financial pace-setter secured guarantee figures well north of the previous benchmarks. The Vikings are committed to Justin Jefferson, as their four-year, $140MM extension illustrates.
In guaranteeing the superstar wideout $110MM ($26MM north of the previous high) and fully guaranteeing him $88.7MM ($36MM higher than second place), the Vikings authorized player-friendly terms for a pass catcher on a stratospheric pace. Jefferson shattered Randy Moss‘ receiving yardage record through three seasons and managed a 1,074-yard showing despite missing seven games due to a hamstring injury.
The receiver market’s spike over the past three offseasons has brought a host of three- and four-year deals. Of the top 10 receiver contracts presently, only one (Davante Adams‘ Raiders pact) covered more than four years in length. (Though, Cooper Kupp‘s 2022 extension covered five seasons in total.) The Eagles’ recent A.J. Brown extension (three years, $96MM) brought a pivot point for the Vikings, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, as the receiver’s camp pushed for a deal that would allow him a chance at another payday before age 30.
“Obviously, on their side of it, they always want deal to be shorter: as much money as possible and shorter, and ours, longer,” Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “That [wide receiver] position has gotten shorter in terms, which is a unique dynamic in the market.”
Brown’s three-year deal, agreed to shortly before the draft, had set the AAV and guarantee standards at the position ($32MM, $84MM). The Vikings have been in talks with Jefferson since the 2023 offseason, proposing a deal just south of $30MM per year shortly before Week 1, but the Brown contract brought a short pause. This aligns with a Monday report that suggested the contract talks ramped up after the draft.
That same report pointed to multiple teams being prepared to offer multiple first-rounders for Jefferson and that the Vikes considered trading up (via the Chargers) to No. 5 for LSU’s Malik Nabers. The Bolts did not receive big offers, however, so it is unclear if a genuine consideration at rebooting around another rookie-deal wideout transpired on the Vikings’ part. No receiver has been traded for two first-round picks since 2000 (Joey Galloway, Keyshawn Johnson), but Adams fetching first- and second-round picks in 2022…